[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/holdfast/)

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# holdfast

noun (a holdfast, holdfasts)

«holdfast» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (science) The root-like part at the bottom of seaweed that holds it tightly to rocks. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#m1)
2. A clamp or hook that holds something firmly, for example to a workbench or wall. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#m2)
3. (old) Something you can hold on to firmly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#m3)

### In the lessons

In science lessons on the seashore and kelp forests, the holdfast is not a real root: it only grips the rock and does not take in food. In woodwork, a holdfast clamps wood to the bench. Phrases: a kelp holdfast, a seaweed's holdfast.

### Examples

- The seaweed's holdfast stuck tightly to the rock. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#x1)
- A holdfast is not a root, because it does not take in water. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#x2)
- Storms can tear kelp from its holdfast. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#x3)
- The carpenter used a holdfast to clamp the wood to the bench. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#x4)
- Tiny crabs hide inside kelp holdfasts. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#x5)

### Note

One word: hold + fast («fast» here means firmly, as in «stuck fast»). Plural: holdfasts. A science and craft word, rarely used in everyday talk.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «holdfast» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«holdfast» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/holdfast.html) on Mova free.